Thermal treatment system and method for controlling the system remotely to thermally treat sterile surgical liquid

ABSTRACT

A thermal treatment system for thermally treating a sterile medium is controlled via a foot actuated switch to thermally treat the sterile medium to a desired temperature and/or form (e.g., slush). The thermal treatment system includes a basin recessed in a system top surface, while a surgical sterile drape is placed over the system and within the basin to form a drape container for containing the sterile medium. The basin may be configured to cool the sterile medium and form sterile surgical slush, or heat the sterile medium to provide warm sterile liquid. A dislodgment mechanism may be employed within a cooling basin to manipulate the drape and dislodge frozen pieces of sterile medium adhered to the drape. Information pertaining to the sterile medium and system operation may be displayed on a system display that has dimensions sufficient to provide visibility of the information to users located within extended ranges from the system. Alternatively, the thermal treatment system may be responsive to a remote control unit to enable users to control operation of the system remotely. The remote control unit may control various operating parameters and features of the system, and preferably emits system commands in the form of code signals. A receiver is employed by the thermal treatment system to receive the transmitted signals and facilitate system operation in response to those signals. In addition, the foot actuated switch and remote control unit may be utilized with thermal treatment systems having a plurality of heating and/or cooling basins.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/572,903, entitled “Remote Controlled Thermal Treatment System andMethod for Controlling the System Remotely to Thermally Treat SterileSurgical Liquid”, and filed May 17, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,371,121.The disclosure in the above-referenced patent application isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention pertains to improvements in methods and apparatusfor heating and/or cooling sterile surgical media or liquids andcollecting surgical sterile slush. In particular, the present inventionpertains to remote control of thermal treatment systems to heat and/orcool sterile surgical media or liquids, and is an improvement of themethods and apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,659 (Keyes etal), U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,152 (Templeton), U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,299(Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,820 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S.Pat. No. 5,333,326 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,616 (Faries,Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,644 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.5,429,801 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,457,962 (Faries, Jr. etal), U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,980 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.5,522,095 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,643 (Faries, Jr. etal), U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,240 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.5,615,423 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,938 (Faries, Jr. etal), U.S. Pat. No. 5,809,788 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.5,816,252 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,467 (Faries, Jr. etal), U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,672 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.5,879,621 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,438 (Faries, Jr. etal), U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,328 (Faries, Jr. et al), U.S. Pat. No.6,035,855 (Faries, Jr. et al) and copending U.S. patent application Ser.No. 08/807,095, filed Feb. 27, 1997 and entitled “Surgical Drape andStand for Use in Heated Thermal Treatment Basins”, and Ser. No.09/046,090, filed Mar. 23, 1998 and entitled “Thermal Treatment Systemand Method for Maintaining Integrity and Ensuring Sterility of SurgicalDrapes Used with Surgical Equipment”. The disclosures in theabove-mentioned patents and copending applications are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

The above-referenced Keyes et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,659 discloses asurgical slush producing system having a cabinet with a heat transferbasin at its top surface. A refrigeration mechanism in the cabinet takesthe form of a closed refrigeration loop including: an evaporator in heatexchange relation to the outside surface of the heat transfer basin; acompressor; a condenser; and a refrigeration expansion control, alllocated within the cabinet. A separate product basin is configured to beremovably received in the heat transfer basin. Spacers, in the form ofshort cylindrical stubs or buttons, are arranged in three groups spacedabout the heat transfer basin and projecting into the heat transferbasin interior to maintain a prescribed space between the two basins.During use, that space contains a thermal transfer liquid, such asalcohol or glycol, serving as a thermal transfer medium between the twobasins. A sterile drape, impervious to the thermal transfer medium, isdisposed between the product basin exterior and the liquid thermaltransfer medium to preserve the sterile nature of the product basin.Surgically sterile liquid, such as sodium chloride solution, is placedin the product basin and congeals on the side of that basin when therefrigeration unit is activated. A scraping tool is utilized to removecongealed sterile material from the product basin side to thereby form aslush of desired consistency within the product basin. Some users of thesystem employ the scraping tool to chip the solid pieces from the basinside.

As noted in the above-referenced Templeton U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,152, theKeyes et al system has a number of disadvantages. In particular, theseparate product basin must be removed and re-sterilized after each use.Additionally, the glycol or other thermal transfer medium is highlyflammable or toxic and, in any event, complicates the procedure. TheTempleton U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,152 discloses a solution to these problemsby constructing an entirely new apparatus whereby the product basin iseliminated in favor of a sterile drape impervious to the sterilesurgical liquid, the drape being made to conform to the basin anddirectly receive the sterile liquid. Congealed liquid is scraped orchipped from the sides of the conformed drape receptacle to form thedesired surgical slush.

The Faries, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,299 notes that scrapingcongealed liquid from the drape is undesirable in view of the potentialfor damage to the drape, resulting in a compromise of sterileconditions. As a solution to the problem, the Faries, Jr. et al U.S.Pat. No. 5,163,299 proposes that the drape be lifted or otherwisemanipulated by hand to break up the congealed liquid adhering to thedrape. Although this hand manipulation is somewhat effective, it is notoptimal, and often is inconvenient and constitutes an additional chorefor operating room personnel. Accordingly, several of the Faries, Jr. etal patents (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,331,820; 5,400,616; 5,457,962;5,502,980; 5,653,938; 5,809,788; 5,857,467; 5,950,438; 6,003,328; and6,035,855) resolve the problem of manual drape manipulation bydisclosing various techniques and/or dislodgment mechanisms toautomatically remove the congealed liquid adhering to the drape withoutendangering the integrity of the drape.

The Templeton U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,152 further discloses an electricalheater disposed at the bottom of the basin to convert the sterile slushto warmed liquid, or to heat additional sterile liquid added to thebasin. Templeton describes the need for such warm sterile liquid asoccurring after a surgical procedure is completed to facilitate raisingthe body cavity of the surgery patient back to its normal temperature bycontact with the warmed liquid. However, there are a number of instancesduring a surgical procedure when it is desirable to have simultaneousaccess to both warmed sterile liquid and sterile surgical slush.Accordingly, several of the Faries, Jr. et al patents (e.g., U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,333,326; 5,429,801; 5,522,095; 5,524,643; 5,615,423; 5,653,938;5,816,252; 5,862,672; 5,857,467; and 5,879,621) disclose a manner inwhich to simultaneously provide both surgical slush and warmed surgicalliquid during a surgical procedure by utilizing a machine having pluralbasins with each basin either producing surgical slush or heating asterile liquid. This machine typically utilizes a single surgical drapethat forms a drape receptacle within each basin to collect sterile slushand heated sterile liquid produced by the machine in the respectivebasins.

In addition, several of the drapes and thermal treatment systemsdisclosed in the above-mentioned patents and copending applicationsinclude specialized features to enhance various aspects of thermaltreatment system operation. For example, some of the specializedfeatures may include: bladder drapes (e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 5,809,788; 5,950,438; and 6,003,328); drapes having plates or disks(e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,457,962 and 5,502,980); leakdetection drapes (e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,524,643 and5,816,252); reinforced drapes (e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.5,857,467); drape indicators and corresponding thermal treatment systemdetection devices to ensure sterility by enabling system operation inresponse to detecting a sterile drape placed on the system (e.g., asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,653,938 and 5,879,621); drapes havingindicia to direct placement of the drapes on thermal treatment systems(e.g., as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,423); surgical drapesconstructed of materials having a coefficient of friction in aparticular range and/or drapes including attachment mechanisms such thata drape may withstand being drawn under a dislodgment mechanism (e.g.,as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,855) ; and a stand to elevateobjects within a heated basin above the basin floor (e.g., as disclosedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/807,095) and/or a heaterconfigured to cover a portion of the basin (e.g., as disclosed in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/046,090) to prevent the drape fromoverheating and puncturing when objects are placed within the basin.

The above-described apparatus may stand some improvement. In particular,thermal treatment systems or machines are generally utilized for certainaspects of a medical procedure. These machines are typically operatedprior to or during the medical procedure to enable a sterile medium toattain a desired temperature and/or form suitable for that procedure.The machines are positioned within an operating room or other facilityproximate the medical procedure site and patient. Since the machinetreats sterile media in a sterile field, sterile personnel (e.g.,personnel that have taken the necessary precautions enabling them tointeract with objects in the sterile field without contaminating thatfield) are required to operate the machine to prevent contamination ofthe sterile field and injury to the patient. Thus, the machine eitherprovides sterile personnel with an additional task of controlling andmonitoring the machine, or requires additional sterile personnel toperform the task, thereby increasing procedure costs and crowding theprocedure site.

When the thermal treatment system is positioned within the facilitybeyond the proximity of the operator, personnel must physically attendto the machine to manually operate the controls. With respect to slushmachines having dislodgement mechanisms, personnel may be required torepeatedly attend to the machine to operate the machine and monitorcollected slush during the procedure. Further, the machine temperatureindicator is generally poorly visible, and may similarly requirepersonnel to be in close proximity to the machine to ascertain settingsand liquid temperature. The process of personnel frequently attending tothe thermal treatment machine may become distracting to the procedure,especially when numerous machine inspections and/or control adjustmentsmay be required. Moreover, frequent inspections and/or adjustments maydivert personnel from their medical procedure tasks at inopportunetimes, such as when complications arise, thereby increasing risk ofinjury to the patient.

In addition, operating room personnel are generally engaged in variousactivities during medical procedures. These activities typically includetasks ranging from monitoring and operating medical equipment tohandling medical instruments. Since the personnel frequently employtheir hands to perform the tasks, operation of the thermal treatmentmachine typically requires a current task to be completed or interruptedin order to enable personnel to utilize their hands to operate themachine controls. As a consequence, interrupted tasks may be omitted dueto personnel oversight, or repeated entirely since the preciseinterruption point may not be recalled. This generally tends to decreaseefficiency and may prevent crucial tasks from being completed at theproper time during the medical procedure, thereby risking injury to apatient.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to remotelycontrol operation of a thermal treatment system to thermally treat asterile medium.

It is another object of the present invention to enable non-sterilepersonnel to remotely control operation of a thermal treatment system tothermally treat a sterile medium during a medical procedure.

Yet another object of the present invention is to display informationpertaining to treatment of a sterile medium by a thermal treatmentsystem in a manner visible to users located at extended ranges (e.g.,distances extending to ten or more feet) from the system.

Still another object of the present invention is to remotely adjustvarious operating parameter settings of a thermal treatment system tocontrol thermal treatment of a sterile, medium to a desired temperatureand/or form (e.g., slush).

A further object of the present invention is to remotely control athermal treatment system dislodgment mechanism to collect a desiredquantity of surgical slush.

Yet another object of the present invention is to control operation of athermal treatment system to thermally treat a sterile medium via a footactuated switch or control unit.

The aforesaid objects are achieved individually and/or in combination,and it is not intended that the present invention be construed asrequiring two or more of the objects to be combined unless expresslyrequired by the claims attached hereto.

According to the present invention, a thermal treatment system forthermally treating a sterile medium or liquid is controlled via a footactuated switch or control unit to thermally treat the sterile medium toa desired temperature and/or form (e.g., slush). The thermal treatmentsystem includes a basin recessed in a system top surface, while asurgical sterile drape is placed over the system and within the basin toform a drape container for containing the sterile medium. The basin maybe configured to cool the sterile medium and form sterile surgicalslush, or heat the sterile medium to provide warm sterile liquid. Adislodgment mechanism may be employed within a cooling basin tomanipulate the drape and dislodge frozen pieces of sterile mediumadhered to the drape. Information pertaining to the sterile medium andsystem operation may be displayed on a system display that hasdimensions sufficient to provide visibility of the information to userslocated within extended ranges (e.g., distances extending to ten or morefeet) from the system. The foot actuated switch or control unit is incommunication with the system to control system operation. The footswitch typically includes pressure sensitive transducers to facilitateentry of commands and operational parameters for transmission to thesystem in response to actuation of those transducers by a user.

Alternatively, the thermal treatment system may be responsive to aremote control unit to enable users to control operation of the systemremotely. The remote control unit may control various operatingparameters and features of the system (e.g., desired temperatures,power, display, dislodgment mechanism, etc.), and preferably emitssystem commands in the form of code signals. A receiver is employed bythe thermal treatment system to receive the transmitted signals andfacilitate system operation in response to those signals.

In addition, the foot actuated switch and remote control unit may beutilized with thermal treatment systems having a plurality of heatingand/or cooling basins with each basin being individually controlled.Moreover, the systems disclosed within the above-mentioned patents andcopending applications may similarly be configured to be responsive tothe foot actuated switch and/or remote control unit in substantially thesame manner described above.

The above and still further objects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description of specific embodiments thereof,particularly when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawingswherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized todesignate like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a thermal treatment system forgenerating and collecting surgical slush having a surgical drape placedthereon and a foot actuated switch to control system operation accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an electrical schematic diagram of the cooling system employedin the thermal treatment system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation and partial section of a surgical drapedisposed within a thermal treatment system basin having an exemplarydislodgment mechanism for manipulating the drape to dislodge congealedsterile medium adhered to the drape.

FIG. 4 is top view in plan of an exemplary foot actuated switch for thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of exemplary circuitry for thesystem of FIG. 1 to control system operation in response to manipulationof the foot switch.

FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of a thermal treatment system forgenerating and collecting surgical slush having a surgical drape placedthereon and a remote control unit for controlling system operationremotely according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary configuration forthe remote control unit of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary control circuit forthe system of FIG. 6 to control system operation in response totransmitted controls from the remote control unit.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view in perspective of a thermal treatment systemfor warming a sterile medium having a surgical drape for placementthereon and a foot actuated switch to control system operation accordingto the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an electrical schematic diagram of a heating unit employed inthe thermal treatment system of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a top view in plan of an exemplary foot actuated switch forthe system of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of exemplary circuitry for thesystem of FIG. 9 to control system operation in response to manipulationof the foot switch.

FIG. 13 is an exploded view in perspective of a thermal treatment systemfor warming a sterile medium having a surgical drape for placementthereon and a remote control unit for controlling system operationremotely according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary control circuit forthe system of FIG. 13 to control system operation in response totransmitted controls from the remote control unit.

FIG. 15 is a view in perspective of a plural basin thermal treatmentsystem having a surgical drape placed thereon and foot actuated switchesto control system operation according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of exemplary circuitry for thesystem of FIG. 15 to control system operation in response tomanipulation of the foot switches.

FIG. 17 is a view in perspective of a plural basin thermal treatmentsystem having a surgical drape placed thereon and a remote control unitfor controlling system operation remotely according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 18 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary control circuit forthe system of FIG. 17 to control system operation in response totransmitted controls from the remote control unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-2 of the accompanying drawings, a thermal treatmentsystem or machine 2 a for cooling a sterile medium and generatingsurgical slush according to the present invention includes a cabinet orhousing 10 with a top surface 16 having a basin 11 mounted thereon in anappropriately sized recess. Basin 11 may be of any shape, however, byway of example only, the basin is substantially circular. Basin 11 ismade of thermally conductive material, typically stainless steel, andincludes a generally flat bottom wall and frusto-conical side wall. Aconventional refrigeration unit is disposed within cabinet 10 andtypically includes a compressor 71, a condenser 53, a suitable thermalexpansion valve 55 and an evaporator 13. The compressor is selectivelyactuable via an electrical power source 79 and an on/off power switch35, and causes a suitable refrigerant fluid to flow through a seriescircuit including condenser 53, evaporator 13 and thermal expansionvalve 55. The evaporator is in the form of a coil wound about theexterior surface of basin 11 in thermal transfer relation therewith topermit cooling of the basin to a desired temperature. A temperaturesensor 81 is disposed along the outside surface of the basin bottom tomonitor the temperature of the sterile medium and/or slush formedtherein. Sensor 81 may be implemented by any conventional temperaturesensor (e.g., a resistive temperature device (RTD)) and is connected inseries with a voltage source 57, preferably derived from power source79, and an indicator 83. Indicator 83 measures the current passingthrough sensor 81 which, in turn, is proportional to the temperaturesensed in basin 11. A temperature control 15 controls the cooling ofbasin 11 to a desired temperature in response to the temperaturemeasured by sensor 81. The temperature control may further includeindicator 83 to provide a temperature indication. The refrigeration unitis activated via power switch 35 and temperature control 15, or via afoot actuated switch 73 a, while evaporator 13 typically cools the sidewall of basin 11 to a temperature substantially below the freezingtemperature of the sterile liquid or medium used in forming the sterileslush. This temperature is preferably on the order of −32° F. to 10° F.For examples of the structure and operation of the refrigeration unit,reference is made to the aforementioned Keyes et al, Templeton et al andFaries, Jr. et al patents.

A sterile drape 17 a, preferably transparent, is typically disposed overthe top and sides of cabinet 10 and made to conform to the side wall andbottom of basin 11. Power switch 35 and temperature control 15 aredisposed on top surface 16 of system cabinet 10 and are adjustablemanually through drape 17 a. Foot switch 73 a is attached to cabinet 10and may similarly control system operation as described below. A display72 may be disposed on a cabinet side wall preferably toward top surface16, while controls 95 may be disposed below the display to facilitateselective display of and/or enter desired information. The display hasdimensions sufficient to enable displayed information to be perceivedthrough the drape by users located within extended ranges (e.g.,distances extending to ten or more feet) from the system, and maydisplay any type of information pertaining to system operation (e.g.,liquid or slush temperature, time, date, etc.).

The portion of drape 17 a disposed in basin 11 serves as a sterile drapereceptacle or container for sterile medium or liquid placed therein tobe cooled and/or frozen into the desired sterile slush. Typical sterileliquid used to produce a surgical sterile slush is a 0.80% to 0.95%sodium chloride solution (e.g., saline). Drape 17 a is made from amaterial that is impervious to the sterile liquid and sufficiently softand flexible to conform to the basin walls. The drape may be non-fittedor flat (e.g., a plain or basic drape of sufficient length that isplaced over the thermal treatment system), or may be constructed suchthat the drape is formed to the contour of the cabinet housing for amore precise fit (e.g., a fitted drape). The thickness of the drape ispreferably minimized to render thermal transfer therethrough mostefficient, yet the thickness is sufficient to resist tearing andpuncturing during normal use. Typically, drape 17 a is made of materialscommonly used in hospitals for surgical drapes and generally has athickness in the approximate range of three through ten mils. Drape 17 amay also be made of polyurethane film as disclosed for the drape in theaforementioned Templeton patent, and may further include a preformedcontainer portion (not shown) contoured to match the contour of a basin.The drape is designed to be disposable after a single use (e.g., asurgical procedure) and is provided presterilized and prepackaged in amanner to preserve its sterile state during storage.

An exemplary dislodgment mechanism 36 of the. type described in theabove-mentioned Faries, Jr. et al patents (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.5,457,962 and 5,857,467) may be used with the system of FIG. 1 toautomatically manipulate drape 17 a and dislodge congealed sterilemedium as illustrated in FIG. 3. Specifically, a disk or plate 19 may bebonded or attached to the drape at the underside of the drape receptacleportion and is configured to generally match the basin bottom whilebeing supported, in a manner described below, slightly above the basinbottom between the drape and the basin. Plate 19 is generally circularwith a short downturned annular lip 21 disposed at its circumference,and is configured for a snap-fit engagement with a connector plate 26.Alternatively, plate 19 may be bonded directly to the connector plate orto a shaft 29 described below with the drape receptacle bottom restingon plate 19 within the basin.

The bottom of the connector plate is provided with a centrally locateddownwardly depending hollow cylindrical stem 27. Stem 27 is interiorlythreaded to receive a threaded tip 28 of shaft 29 extending upwardlythrough the bottom of basin 11. In particular, the bottom of basin 11 isprovided with a central hole communicating with a bore in an adaptertube 30 secured at its upper end to the bottom of basin 11 by anyconvenient mechanism. The bottom end of adapter tube 30 is externallythreaded and is engaged by a support bracket 33 and lock washer 23 suchthat bracket 33 is suspended interiorly of the machine cabinet (notshown in FIG. 3). A gear motor assembly 37 is supported by bracket 33and includes a rotor 39 operatively engaged with a bearing track 40.Drive shaft 29 has its bottom end operatively engaged to bearing track40 to cause the shaft to reciprocate longitudinally as rotor 39 rotates.Shaft 29 extends upwardly through adapter tube 30 and has its upper endsecured to the center of the underside of connector plate 26 in themanner described above. Accordingly, as motor 37 reciprocates shaft 29up and down, the shaft moves plate 19 up and down. Plate 19, in turn,moves the bottom of the drape container up and down to loosen pieces offrozen saline that form on the drape. The loosened pieces fall andcollect in the center of the drape container as surgical slush. It is tobe understood that the system of FIG. 1 may include various types ofdislodgment mechanisms, such as any of those disclosed in theaforementioned Faries, Jr. et al patents.

Generally, medical procedures are performed in an operating room orother medical facility with the assistance of various sterile andnon-sterile medical personnel. The sterile personnel refer to personnelthat have taken the necessary precautions enabling them to interact withobjects in a sterile field without contaminating that field, whilenon-sterile personnel refer to personnel that have not taken thoseprecautions and are capable of contaminating the sterile field. Sincethe thermal treatment system treats a sterile medium in the sterilefield, sterile personnel are required to operate the system. This is dueto the fact that control 15 and/or controls 95 need to be manipulatedthrough the sterile drape during the procedure without contaminating thedrape or sterile field. Further, the thermal treatments system may bepositioned beyond the immediate reach of sterile personnel, or thesterile personnel may not be able to immediately control the system dueto their hands being occupied by another task. Accordingly, thermaltreatment system 2 a may alternatively be controlled remotely via footactuated switch 73 a as illustrated, by way of example only, in FIG. 4.Specifically, foot switch 73 a is coupled to thermal treatment system 2a (FIG. 1) via a cable 7 that transfers information between the footswitch and system. The foot switch includes a substantially rectangularhousing 42 and several pressure sensitive transducers 41, 44 and 46 thatdetect switch actuation by a user as described below. The housing isconstructed of suitably rigid materials to withstand pressure applied bythe user during actuation and may include various indicia 91 to identifyfunctions associated with the transducers. The non-sterile foot switchtypically resides below and outside the confines of the sterile fieldestablished to prevent contamination of the medical procedure. As such,the foot switch may be disposed at various distances from the system,and may be operated by sterile or non-sterile personnel.

Transducers 41, 44 and 46 typically include substantially circularcoverings having indicia to identify the particular function associatedwith that transducer. By way of example only, transducer 41 is disposedtoward an upper left corner (e.g., as viewed in FIG. 4) of the footswitch and is actuated to increase the temperature setting for thesystem. Transducer 41 includes a covering having indicia in the form ofan upward pointing arrow to identify the associated function.Conversely, transducer 44 is disposed below transducer 41 and isactuated to decrease the temperature setting for the system. Thistransducer includes a covering having indicia in the form of a downwardpointing arrow to identify that function. System power may be controlledby transducer 46 disposed toward the center of the foot switch loweredge. This transducer typically includes a covering having indicia inthe form of ‘POWER’ to indicate the associated function.

The foot switch may include additional transducers to control variousother parameters of system operation. For example, transducers 45, 48,49 and 52 maybe disposed on the foot switch to control operation of adislodgment mechanism, such as mechanism 36 (FIG. 3). Specifically,transducers 45 and 52 are disposed above transducer 46 toward the footswitch upper edge. These transducers control power and duration ofactuation of the dislodgment mechanism and respectively includesubstantially circular coverings having indicia in the form of an upwardpointing arrow and ‘ON’ and a downward pointing arrow and ‘OFF’ toidentify the associated power and duration functions. Transducer 48 isdisposed toward on upper right corner of the foot switch (e.g., asviewed in FIG. 4) and is actuated to increase the rate of thedislodgment mechanism. This transducer includes a substantially circularcovering having indicia in the form of an upward pointing arrow toidentify the associated mechanism rate function. Conversely, transducer49 is disposed below transducer 48 and is actuated to decrease thedislodgment mechanism rate for the system. This transducer includes asubstantially circular covering having indicia in the form of a downwardpointing arrow to identify the associated mechanism rate function.

In addition, the foot switch may include a display 51 disposed towardthe center of the foot switch within the confines of the foot switchtransducers. Display 51 is preferably implemented by a conventionalliquid crystal display (LCD), but maybe implemented by any other displaydevices (e.g., LED). The display typically includes a protectivecovering to prevent damage to the display during switch actuation, andmay provide various information to a user concerning system operation(e.g., actual liquid temperature, desired temperature, dislodgmentmechanism rate, current time, date, etc.). In this fashion, a user maycontrol system operation via the foot switch and have informationimmediately available in response to foot switch actuation (e.g., thesettings entered by the foot switch). Further, the foot switch mayinclude transducers (not shown) that facilitate selective display ofvarious information on displays 51 and/or 72. The foot switch componentsmay be arranged in any fashion, however, a preferable arrangementenables manipulation of the transducers while providing an unobstructedview of display 51. It is to be understood that the foot switch may beconfigured to control any desired operational parameters or settings(e.g., duration of system or dislodgment mechanism operation, settingtimes for system or dislodgment mechanism operation, etc.) and mayinclude any quantity or types of input devices to facilitate control ofthose settings.

The foot switch transducers are preferably implemented by force sensingresistors and associated circuitry. Specifically, each resistor is arelatively flat element with two terminals that essentially varies theresistance between the terminals in response to pressure applied in adirection substantially perpendicular to the plane of the element. Theassociated circuitry produces an output voltage based on the varyingresistance, thereby providing a signals proportional to the pressureapplied to the transducer. For examples of foot switches employing forcesensing resistors, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,355(Schemansky et al) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,460 (Carr et al), thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

Thermal treatment 2 a system receives the voltage signals from the footswitch and determines the appropriate actions as illustrated in FIG. 5.Specifically, system 2 a includes a processor 6 disposed within cabinet10 and coupled to foot switch 73 a, power switch 35 and temperaturecontrol 15. The processor may further be coupled to dislodgmentmechanism 36, display 72 and controls 95 when those devices are employedby the system, and may be implemented by any conventional microprocessoror other processing system or circuitry. In response to manipulation offoot switch 73 a, processor 6 receives transducer signals via cable 7indicating pressure applied to foot switch transducers. These signalsare generally analog signals and are converted to digital signalscompatible with the processor by an analog-to-digital converter (notshown) disposed either within the foot switch or within the thermaltreatment system. Signals generated by the individual transducers may bememory mapped (e.g., placed in certain memory locations), may triggerparticular processor interrupts or may utilize specific processor datalines to enable the processor to identify the transducers producing thesignals.

The processor compares the transducer signals to correspondingtransducer thresholds to determine the presence of transducer actuation(e.g., when the pressure applied to a transducer exceeds a threshold,the transducer is determined to be actuated). When a transducer isdetermined to be actuated, the processor controls the appropriate systemcomponents to perform the function associated with the actuatedtransducer. For example, in response to determining actuation oftransducer 46 (FIG. 4), processor 6 toggles power switch 35 toalternately enable and disable power to the system. When transducer 41is actuated, processor 6 controls temperature control 15 to increment orincrease the system temperature setting. The incremental setting may bedisplayed on displays 51 and/or 72 to enable a user to view theincremental setting and manipulate foot switch transducers 41, 44 toachieve a desired temperature value. Similarly, actuation of transducer44 causes the processor to control temperature control 15 to decrementor decrease the system temperature setting, while the decrementalsettings may be displayed on displays 51 and/or 72. The users ceasestransducer actuation in response to a display of the desired temperaturevalue. Further, actuation of transducer 45 causes processor 6 to enablea dislodgment mechanism power switch and increment the duration or timeinterval of mechanism operation. Conversely, manipulation of transducer52 causes the processor to decrement the duration and disable mechanismpower when the duration is decremented to a value indicating expirationof the time interval. Transducers 45, 52 operate in a manner similar totemperature transducers 41, 44 described above and are actuated until adesired duration is displayed. The rate of the dislodgment mechanism iscontrolled by transducers 48, 49 that operate in a manner similar tothat described above for temperature transducers 41, 44. The dislodgmentmechanism rate may be displayed on displays 51 and/or 72 with transducer48 incrementing the setting and transducer 49 decrementing the setting.The mechanism rate transducers are basically actuated until a desiredsetting appears on displays 51 and/or 72. The processor maintains anddisplays the remaining time within the mechanism operating interval ondisplays 51 and/or 72 and controls the mechanism rate in accordance withthe entered setting.

In addition, the processor may be further coupled to temperature sensor81 disposed proximate basin 11 (FIG. 2) to measure the temperature ofthe sterile liquid as described above. The processor receives a signalfrom the temperature sensor indicating the measured temperature andprocesses that signal to display the measured temperature. Thetransducers associated with the display may be actuated to controlprocessor 6 to display desired information on display 72. Cable 7 mayfurther transfer information between the processor and foot switch todisplay the desired information on display 51. It is to be understoodthat the processor may control system operation in a manner similar tothat described above for temperature control 15 and/or foot switch 73 ain response to commands and/or system parameters entered via controls95.

Operation of thermal treatment system 2 a with foot actuated switch 73 ais described with reference to FIGS. 1-5. Specifically, sterile drape 17a is placed over thermal treatment system 2 a and within basin 11 toform a drape receptacle. A sterile medium or liquid is placed within thedrape receptacle for cooling and/or forming surgical slush. The systemmay be manually controlled via power switch 35 and temperature control15 and/or controls 95, but is preferably controlled by manipulation offoot switch 73 a. The user actuates appropriate foot switch transducersto control system operation. For example, a user may actuate transducer46 to initiate power, and further actuate transducers 41, 44 to enter adesired temperature setting as described above. In addition, transducers45, 48, 49 and 52 may be actuated to control dislodgment mechanismoperation as described above. The foot switch transfers transducersignals to the thermal treatment system where processor 6 determinestransducer actuation and controls appropriate system components toperform the commanded actions as described above. The liquid temperatureand other information may be selectively displayed on displays 51 and/or72 in accordance with manipulation of the display transducers and/orcontrols 95. System operation may be controlled manually (e.g., viapower switch 35 and temperature control 15 and/or controls 95) or viafoot switch 73 a, either individually or in any desired combination.

In order to further enable sterile and non-sterile personnel to operatethe thermal treatment system, the system may be controlled by a remotecontrol unit as illustrated in FIGS. 6-8. Specifically, thermaltreatment system 2 b is substantially similar to system 2 a describedabove, but includes a remote control unit 70 a and control circuitry 74(FIG. 8). A sterile drape 17 b is placed over the system and withinbasin 11 to form a drape receptacle as described above. The drape issubstantially similar to drape 17 a described above, but is constructedof materials permitting signals from remote control unit 70 a to passtherethrough and control system operation. Display 72 may be disposed ona side wall of cabinet 10 as described above, while controls 95 may bedisposed below the display to facilitate selective display of and/orenter desired information. The display has dimensions sufficient toenable displayed information (e.g., operating status, desiredtemperature, actual liquid temperature, time, date, dislodgmentmechanism period /activation, etc.) to be perceived through drape 17 bby users located within extended ranges (e.g., distances extending toten or more feet) from the system. A substantially rectangular window 76is defined within a cabinet side wall below temperature control 15, andtypically includes a substantially transparent covering constructed ofmaterials that permit signals emitted from remote control unit 70 a topass therethrough. Control circuitry 74 is disposed coincident window 76to receive the transmitted signals and control system operation inaccordance with commands embedded within the signals as described below.

Referring to FIG. 7, remote control unit 70 a typically has dimensionssuitable for hand-held operation, and may be of the types disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,264,982 (Sakarya), U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,200 (Evans etal), U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,434 (Keenan) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,735(Chiloyan et al). The disclosures of these patents are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. Control unit 70 a, by way ofexample only, includes a keypad 78, an optional display 80, a processor82, a memory 84, a transmitter 86 and an external interface 88. Keypad78 facilitates entry of data into the remote control unit and mayinclude any types of buttons, keys, wheels, switches or other inputdevices (e.g., balls, bars, joystick, etc.). The keypad generallyincludes specialty keys (e.g., keys associated with a specific function,such as on/off, increase/decrease settings, etc.) and a series ofnumeric keys and is connected to and forwards the entered information toprocessor 82. Processor 82 may be implemented by any conventionalprocessing unit or circuit, such as a microprocessor, and receivesentered information from keypad 78. Memory 84 is connected to theprocessor and typically contains software and operation code sets fortransmitting commands to system 2 b (FIG. 6). The processor decodes theinformation entered via keypad 78 and retrieves the appropriateoperation codes from memory 84 for transmission to system 2 b bytransmitter 86. Memory 84 may store codes to facilitate adjustment orcontrol of various system parameters and functions (e.g., power,temperature setting increase/decrease, dislodgment mechanism powerduration, dislodgment mechanism rate increase/decrease, display ofsettings or measured temperature, or any other system parameter orfunction). Display 80 is preferably implemented by a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) and displays various information (e.g., date, time, liquidtemperature, desired temperature, etc.) in response to processor controland display commands entered via keypad 78.

Transmitter 86 is connected to processor 82 and emits encoded commandsignals for processing by control circuitry 74 of system 2 b. Thetransmitter may be implemented by any conventional or other transmitter,and may transmit any type of energy (e.g., infrared, RF, ultrasonic,visible light, etc.) capable of traversing the drape material. Interface88 is connected to processor 82 and provides communication between theremote control unit and an external device, such as a computer. Thispermits additional information, such as command codes, to be transferredto and stored within the remote control unit. The interface may beimplemented by any standard interface, such as RS-232.

A receiver/decoder 90 may further be incorporated into the remotecontrol unit to receive information transmitted from system 2 b asdescribed below. Receiver 90 is preferably implemented by a conventionalreceiver/decoder and connected to processor 82 for receiving signalsemitted from the system. These signals may include various types ofinformation relating to system operation or the sterile liquid (e.g.,status, liquid temperature, etc.). The receiver decodes the receivedsignals and conveys the information to processor 82 for selectivedisplay on display 80 in accordance with display commands entered viakeypad 78. Thus, a user may remotely monitor the system via theinformation displayed by the remote control unit. Information may beselectively displayed on displays 72 and/or 80 in accordance withdisplay commands entered via keypad 78 or controls 95. In order tomaintain the sterile field, the remote control unit may be sterilized orencased in a disposable sterile liner prior to use in each procedure.

Remote control unit 70 a emits command signals to system 2 b, whilecontrol circuitry 74 embedded within the system receives the signals andcontrols system operation in accordance with the received commands.Referring to FIG. 8, control circuitry 74 includes a receiver 92, adecoder 94 and a processor 96. Receiver 92 receives encoded signalsemitted from remote control unit 70 a through window 76 (FIG. 6). Thereceiver is preferably implemented by a conventional receiver compatiblewith transmitter 86, and conveys the encoded signals to decoder 94. Thedecoder decodes the received signals and forwards the decoded commandsignals to processor 96 for processing. The decoder may be implementedby any conventional decoders compatible with the signal encoder.Processor 96 may be implemented by any conventional processor orcircuitry, and determines the command based on the transmitted operationcode to control system operation.

The processor is typically connected to temperature control 15 and powerswitch 35, but may be further coupled to temperature sensor 81, display72, controls 95 and dislodgment mechanism 36 (e.g., when the optionalcontrols, display and dislodgment mechanism are employed by system 2 b).The processor enables performance of various functions in accordancewith commands transmitted from remote control unit 70 a. For example,the processor may toggle power switch 35 to alternately enable anddisable power to the system in response to a transmitted power or on/offcommand; control temperature control 15 to thermally treat the sterileliquid to an entered temperature; or control the rate or duration ofdislodgment mechanism 36 in response to commands transmitted by theremote control unit. The desired temperature and mechanism rate andduration parameters may be directly entered via numeric keys of keypad78. Alternatively, these settings may be entered via increment anddecrement keys of keypad 78 with the entered setting being displayed ondisplays 72 and/or 80. Basically, the increment and decrement keys aremanipulated until the desired setting appears on displays 72 and/or 80.Processor 96 maintains and displays the remaining time within adislodgment mechanism operating interval on displays 72 and/or 80 andcontrols the mechanism rate in accordance with the entered setting.Further, the temperature measured by temperature sensor 81 may beprovided to processor 96 for display on displays 72 and/or 80 along withvarious types of other information (e.g., time, date, desiredtemperature, dislodgment mechanism rate and/or duration, etc.) inaccordance with display commands entered by the user via keypad 78 orcontrols 95.

In addition, control circuitry 74 may include a transmitter 98 toprovide information to remote control unit 70 a for display to a user ondisplay 80 as described above. Transmitter 98 is similar to transmitter86 of remote control unit 70 a and is preferably implemented by aconventional transmitter compatible with the remote control unitreceiver. The transmitter provides encoded signals conveying variousinformation (e.g., actual temperature, mechanism duration, status, etc.)to the remote control unit for selective display on display 80 inaccordance with display commands entered via keypad 78 as describedabove. It is to be understood that the remote control unit and controlcircuitry may be configured to control any desired operationalparameters or settings. Further, processor 96 may control systemoperation in a similar manner to that described above for temperaturecontrol 15 and/or remote control unit 70 a in response to commandsand/or system parameters entered via controls 95.

Operation of remote controlled thermal treatment system 2 b is describedwith reference to FIGS. 6-8. Specifically, sterile drape 17 b is placedover system 2 b and within basin 11 to form a drape receptacle. Asterile medium or liquid is placed within the drape receptacle forcooling and/or forming surgical slush. The system may be manuallycontrolled via power switch 35 and temperature control 15 and/orcontrols 95, but is preferably controlled by operation of remote controlunit 70 a, The user depresses appropriate devices on keypad 78 tocontrol system operation. For example, a user may initially enter “poweron” commands followed by desired temperatures to initiate systemoperation. The remote control unit processes the keypad entries andretrieves the appropriate operation codes from memory for transmissionto system 2 b in the form of encoded signals as described above. Controlcircuitry 74 within the system receives and decodes the transmittedsignals, and controls the appropriate system components to perform theactions indicated by the operation codes. The liquid temperature andother information is selectively displayed on displays 72 and/or 80 inaccordance with display commands entered via keypad 78 or controls 95.System operation may be controlled manually (e.g., via power switch 35and temperature control 15 and/or controls 95) and/or via remote controlunit 70 a, either individually or in any desired combination.

A thermal treatment system operable by sterile and non-sterile personnelto heat a sterile medium or liquid according to the present invention isillustrated in FIG. 9. Specifically, system 3 a includes a cabinet orhousing 31 and a warming basin 43 recessed into a top surface 34 ofcabinet 31. Basin 43 may be of any shape, however, by way of exampleonly, the basin is substantially rectangular. A heater power switch 47and a temperature controller/indicator 38 are provided on top surface 34adjacent the warming basin, while a foot actuated switch 73 b isattached to the cabinet and may control system operation along with thepower switch and controller/indicator as described below. Sterilesurgical drape 17 a, substantially similar to the drape described abovefor FIG. 1, is typically disposed over the system and within basin 43 toform a drape receptacle and contain a sterile medium within the basin insubstantially the same manner described above for thermal treatmentsystem 2 a. The power switch and controller are adjustable manuallythrough the drape to control system operation. The sterile liquid issubstantially the same liquid described above to produce sterile slushand is warmed within the basin to produce a warmed sterile liquid.Display 72 may be disposed on a cabinet front wall, while displaycontrols 95 may be disposed below the display to facilitate selectivedisplay of and/or enter desired information as described above. Thedisplay has dimensions sufficient to enable displayed information to beperceived through the drape by users located within extended ranges(e.g., distances extending to ten or more feet) from the system.

The manner of heating sterile liquid in warming basin 43 is illustratedschematically in FIG. 10. Specifically, an electrical circuit includes apower source 61 connected in series with a temperature control unit 62,a heater element or pad 60, and power control switch 47. Heater 60 istypically a thin wafer-like member disposed along the bottom surface ofheating basin 43, secured to the basin by a suitable pressure sensitiveadhesive having efficient heat transfer characteristics. Heater 60 hassmaller dimensions than the basin bottom and is disposed at theapproximate center of the bottom surface of the basin. The heater, forexample, may be of the type described in the aforementioned Templetonpatent. Temperature control unit 62 includes a device for adjustingcurrent passing through the heating element 60 so as to permit selectiveadjustment of the heat applied to the liquid in basin 43. The powerswitch 47 permits selective application and removal of current flow withrespect to heater 60.

A temperature sensor 64 is disposed adjacent basin 43 to sense thetemperature of the liquid therein. Sensor 64 is connected in series witha voltage source 65 and an indicator 66. Voltage source 65 and powersource 61 may be the same source, or the voltage for one may be derivedfrom the other. Indicator 66 measures the current through temperaturesensor 64, that current being proportional to the sensed temperature.Indicator 66 and temperature controller 62 may correspond, for example,to the temperature controller/indicator 38 described above. For furtherexamples of heating unit operation, reference is made to the Faries, Jr.et al (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,333,326; 5,429,801; 5,522,095; 5,524,643;5,615,423; 5,653,938; 5,816,252; 5,857,467; 5,862,672 and 5,879,621) andother above-mentioned patents.

The warming system may be controlled manually during a medical procedureby sterile personnel via power switch 47 and temperature controller 38and/or controls 95, or remotely by sterile or non-sterile personnel viafoot actuated switch 73 b as illustrated, by way of example only, inFIG. 11. Specifically, foot switch 73 b is similar to foot switch 73 adescribed above and is coupled to system 3 a via cable 7 that transfersinformation between the foot switch and system as described above. Thefoot switch includes a substantially rectangular housing 42 and severalforce sensitive transducers 41, 44 and 46 that detect switch actuationby the user as described below. The housing is constructed of suitablyrigid materials to withstand pressure applied by the user duringactuation, and may include various indicia 93 to identify functionsassociated with the transducers.

Transducers 41, 44, 46 typically include substantially circularcoverings having indicia to identify the particular function associatedwith that transducer. By way of example only, transducer 41 is disposedtoward the center of the foot switch left side edge (e.g., as viewed inFIG. 11) and is actuated to increase the system temperature setting asdescribed above. This transducer includes a covering having indicia inthe form of an upward pointing arrow to identify the associatedfunction. Conversely, transducer 44 is disposed toward the center of thefoot switch right side edge (e.g., as viewed in FIG. 11) and is actuatedto decrease the system temperature setting. This transducer includes acovering having indicia in the form of a downward pointing arrow toidentify the associated function. System power may be controlled bytransducer 46 disposed toward the center of the foot switch lower edge.This transducer includes a covering having indicia in the form of‘POWER’ to indicate the associated function.

In addition, the foot switch may include display 51 as described aboveand disposed toward and along the foot switch upper edge. The displaytypically includes a protective covering to prevent damage to thedisplay during switch actuation, and may provide various information toa user concerning system operation as described above. Further, the footswitch may include transducers (not shown) that facilitate selectivedisplay of various information on displays 51 and/or 72 as describedabove. The foot switch transducers are substantially similar to andfunction in substantially the same manner as the correspondingtransducers described above for foot switch 73 a. The foot switchcomponents may be arranged in any fashion, however, a preferablearrangement enables manipulation of the transducers while providing anunobstructed view of display 51. It is to be understood that the footswitch may be configured to control any desired operational parametersor settings (e.g., duration of system operation, setting actual timesfor system operation, etc.) and may include any quantity or types ofinput devices to facilitate control of those settings.

System 3 a receives signals from the foot switch and determines theappropriate actions as illustrated in FIG. 12. Specifically, system 3 aincludes a processor 9 disposed within cabinet 31 and coupled to footswitch 73 b, power switch 47 and temperature controller 62. Theprocessor may further be coupled to display 72 and controls 95 whenthose devices are employed by the system. The processor is substantiallysimilar to processor 6 described above and may be implemented by anyconventional microprocessor or other processing system or circuitry. Inresponse to manipulation of foot switch 73 b, processor 9 receivestransducer signals via cable 7 indicating pressure applied to footswitch transducers. These 46 signals are generally analog signals andare converted to digital signals compatible with the processor via ananalog-to-digital converter (not shown) disposed either within the footswitch or within system 3 a. Processor 9 generally employs the memorymapping, interrupt or specific data line techniques described above toidentify the transducers producing the signals.

Processor 9 compares the transducer signals to corresponding transducerthresholds as described above to determine the transducers actuated bythe user. When a transducer is determined to be actuated, the processorcontrols the appropriate system components to perform the functionassociated with the actuated transducer. For example, in response todetermining actuation of transducer 46, processor 9 toggles power switch47 to alternately enable and disable power to the system. Whentransducer 41 is actuated, the processor controls temperature controller62 to increment the system temperature setting. The incremental settingmay be displayed on displays 51 and/or 72 to enable a user to view theincremental setting and manipulate foot switch transducers 41, 44 toachieve a desired temperature value. Similarly, actuation of transducer44 causes the processor to control temperature controller 62 todecrement or decrease the temperature setting, while the decrementalsetting may be displayed on displays 51 and/or 72. The user ceasestransducer manipulation in response to display of the desiredtemperature value.

In addition, the processor may be further coupled to temperature sensor64 disposed proximate basin 43 (FIG. 10) to measure temperature of thesterile liquid as described above. The processor receives a signal fromthe temperature sensor indicating the measured liquid temperature andprocesses that signal to display the measured temperature. Thetransducers associated with the display may be actuated to controlprocessor 9 to display desired information on display 72. Cable 7 mayfurther transfer information between the processor and foot switch todisplay the desired information on display 51. It is to be understoodthat the processor may control system operation in a manner similar tothat described above for temperature control 38 and/or foot switch 73 bin response to commands and/or system parameters entered via controls95.

Operation of warming system 3 a with foot actuated switch 73 b isdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9-12. Specifically, sterile drape 17 ais placed over system 3 a and within basin 43 to form a drape receptacleas described above. A sterile medium or liquid is placed within thedrape receptacle for heating to produce a warmed sterile liquid. Thewarming system may be manually controlled via power switch 47 andtemperature control 38 and/or, controls 95, but is preferably controlledby manipulation of foot switch 73 b. The user actuates appropriate footswitch transducers to control system operation. For example, a user mayactuate transducer 46 to initiate system power, and further actuatetransducers 41, 44 to set a desired temperature as described above. Thefoot switch transfers transducer signals to the warming system whereprocessor 9 determines transducer actuation and controls appropriatesystem components to perform the commanded actions as described above.The liquid temperature and other information may be selectivelydisplayed on displays 51 and/or 72 in accordance with manipulation ofthe display transducers and/or controls 95. System operation may becontrolled manually (e.g., via power switch 47 and temperature control38 and/or controls 95) or via foot switch 73 b, either individually orin any desired combination.

A remote controlled thermal treatment system operable during a medicalprocedure by sterile or non-sterile personnel for warming a sterilemedium according to the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 13-14.Specifically, warming system 3 b is substantially similar to warmingsystem 3 a described above, but includes remote control unit 70 b andcontrol circuitry 75 (FIG. 14). A drape 17 b, substantially similar tothe drape described above for system 2 b, is placed over the system andwithin basin 43 to form a drape receptacle as described above. Drape 17b is constructed of materials permitting signals from remote controlunit 70 b to pass therethrough and control system operation. Display 72may be disposed on the cabinet front wall below temperature control 38,while controls 95 may be disposed below the display to facilitateselective display of and/or enter desired information. display hasdimensions sufficient to enable displayed information (e.g., operatingstatus, desired temperature, actual liquid temperature, time, date,etc.) to be perceived through drape 17 b by users located withinextended ranges (e.g., distances extending to ten or more feet) from thesystem. Substantially rectangular window 76 is defined within thecabinet front wall below power switch 47, and typically includes asubstantially transparent covering constructed of materials that permitsignals emitted from remote control unit 70 b to pass therethrough.Control circuitry 75 is disposed coincident window 76 to receive thetransmitted signals and control system operation in accordance withcommands embedded within the signals as described below.

Remote control unit 70 b emits command signals to warming system 3 b tocontrol system operation and is substantially similar to remote control70 a described above for FIG. 7, except that remote control unit 70 bstores and transmits operation codes corresponding to warming systemoperations (e.g., power, temperature setting increase/decrease, etc.).In order to maintain the sterile field, the remote control unit may besterilized or encased in a sterile disposable liner prior to eachprocedure as described above. Control circuitry. 75 is substantiallysimilar to circuitry 74 described above and is embedded within cabinet31 to control system operation in accordance with commands received fromremote control unit 70 b. Referring to FIG. 14, control circuitry 75includes receiver 92, decoder 94 and processor 96, each as describedabove. Receiver 92 receives signals emitted from remote control unit 70bthrough window 76 (FIG. 13) and conveys the encoded signals to decoder94 as described above. The decoder decodes the received signals andforwards the decoded signals to processor 96 for processing as describedabove. Processor 96 determines the command based on the transmittedoperation code to control system operation.

The processor is typically connected to temperature control 38 and powerswitch 47, but may be further coupled to temperature sensor 64, display72 and controls 95 (e.g., when the optional display and controls areemployed by the system). The processor enables performance of variousfunctions in accordance with commands transmitted from remote controlunit 70 b. For example, the processor may toggle power switch 47 toalternately enable and disable power to the system in response to atransmitted power or on/off command, or control temperature control 38to thermally treat the sterile medium to an entered temperature inresponse to a corresponding command transmitted by the remote controlunit. The desired temperature may be directly entered via numeric keysof keypad 78 or entered via increment and/or decrement keys of thekeypad as described above. Further, the temperature measured bytemperature sensor 64 may be provided to processor 96 for display ondisplays 72 and/or 80 along with various types of other information(e.g., time, date, desired temperature, etc.) in accordance with displaycommands entered by the user via keypad 78 or controls 95.

In addition, control circuitry 75 may include transmitter 98 to provideinformation to remote control unit 70 b for display to a user on display80 as described above. Transmitter 98 provides encoded signals conveyingvarious information (e.g., actual and desired temperatures, status,etc.) to the remote control unit for selective display on display 80(FIG. 7) in accordance with display commands entered via keypad 78. Itis to be understood that the remote control unit and control circuitrymay be configured to control any desired operational parameters orsettings. Further, processor 96 may control system operation in asimilar manner to that described above for temperature control 38 and/orremote control unit 70 b in response to commands and/or systemparameters entered via controls 95.

Operation of remote controlled thermal treatment system 3 b is describedwith reference to FIGS. 13-14. Specifically, sterile drape 17 b isplaced over cabinet 31 and within basin 43 to form a drape receptacle asdescribed above. A sterile medium or liquid is placed within the drapereceptacle for heating to produce a warmed sterile liquid. The systemmay be manually controlled via power switch 47 and temperature control38 and/or controls 95, but is preferably controlled by operation ofremote control unit 70 b. The user depresses appropriate devices or keyson keypad 78 to control system operation. For example, a user mayinitially enter “power on” commands followed by desired temperatures toinitiate system operation. Remote control unit 70 b processes keypadentries and retrieves the appropriate operation codes from memory fortransmission to system 3 b in the form of encoded signals as describedabove. Control circuitry 75 within the system receives and decodes thetransmitted signals, and controls the appropriate system components toperform the actions indicated by the operation codes. The liquidtemperature and other information is selectively displayed on displays72 and/or 80 in accordance with display commands entered via keypad 78or controls 95. System operation may be controlled manually (e.g., viapower switch 47 and temperature control 38 and/or controls 95) and/orvia remote control unit 70 b, either individually or in any desiredcombination.

A plural basin thermal treatment system operable during a medicalprocedure by sterile or non-sterile personnel to thermally treat asterile medium according to the present invention is illustrated in FIG.15. Specifically, a thermal treatment system 5 a has an integralassembly 50 including basin 11 for cooling a sterile medium or liquidand basin 43 for heating sterile liquid, each recessed into top surface32 of a common cabinet 54. The thermal treatment system basins providefor simultaneous cooling and heating of a sterile medium. Also disposedin top surface 32 are cooling unit power switch 35, cooling unittemperature control 15, heater power switch 47 and a heater temperaturecontrol 38. The cooling and heating basins are substantially similar toand function in substantially the same manner as the basins of thecooling and warming systems described above. For further examples of thestructure and operation of integral assembly 50, reference is made tothe aforementioned Faries, Jr. et al patents (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos.5,333,326; 5,429,801; 5,522,095; 5,524,643; 5,615,423; 5,653,938;5,816,252; 5,857,467; 5,862,672 and 5,879,621).

A sterile drape 17 c for use with the plural basin system issubstantially similar to drape 17 a described above, but is ofsufficient size to encompass basins 11 and 43. The drape is placed overthe system and within basins 11, 43 to form drape receptacles within thebasins as described above. Displays 72 may each be disposed on anassembly front wall below a respective basin, while controls 95 may bedisposed beneath the respective displays to facilitate selective displayof and/or enter desired information. The displays have dimensionssufficient to enable displayed information to be perceived through thedrape by users located within extended ranges (e.g., distances extendingto ten or more feet) from the system as described above. Power switches35, 47, temperature controls 15, 38 and controls 95 are manuallyadjustable through drape 17 c to control system operation. In addition,foot actuated switches 73 a, 73 b are attached to cabinet 54 to controlsystem operation as described below. In particular, foot switch 73 a issubstantially similar to the foot switch described above for FIG. 4 andcontrols operation of cooling basin 11, while foot switch 73 b issubstantially similar to the foot switch described above for FIG. 8 andcontrols operation of warming basin 43. Foot switches 73 a, 73 b areeach coupled to system 5 a via respective cables 7 that each transferinformation between a foot switch and system 5 a.

The foot switches each provide signals to system 5 a to control systemoperation as illustrated in FIG. 16. Specifically, system 5 a includes aprocessor 56 disposed within assembly 50 and coupled to foot switches 73a, 73 b, power switches 35, 47 and temperature controls 15, 38. Theprocessor may further be coupled to cooling basin dislodgment mechanism36, displays 72 and controls 95 (e.g., when these optional devices areemployed by the system) and may be implemented by any conventionalmicroprocessor or other processing system or circuitry. In response tomanipulation of foot switches 73 a, 73 b, processor 56 receivestransducer signals from the foot switches via cables 7 indicatingpressure applied to foot switch transducers. These signals are generallyanalog signals and are converted to digital signals compatible with theprocessor by an analog-to-digital converter (not shown) disposed eitherwithin each foot switch or within system 5 a. Processor 56 generallyemploys the memory mapping, interrupt or specific data line techniquesdescribed above to identify the transducers producing the signals.

The processor compares the transducer signals to correspondingtransducer thresholds to determine actuation of transducers as describedabove. When transducers are determined to be actuated, the processorcontrols the appropriate system components to perform the functionsassociated with the actuated transducers for the respective basins insubstantially the same manner described above. In addition, theprocessor may be further coupled to temperature sensors 64, 81 (FIGS. 2and 10) and receive signals from these sensors indicating the measuredtemperature of liquid within basins 11, 43. The processor processes thesignals to display the measured temperatures on respective displays 72.The transducers associated with the respective displays may be actuatedto control processor 56 to display desired information on displays 72.Cables 7 may transfer information between the processor and footswitches to display the information on the foot switch displays asdescribed above. It is to be understood that the processor may controlsystem operation in a manner similar to that described above fortemperature controls 15, 38 and foot switches 73 a, 73 b in response tocommands and/or system parameters entered via respective controls 95.

Operation of the plural basin system with foot actuated switches 73 a,73 b is described with reference to FIGS. 15-16. Specifically, steriledrape 17 c is placed over system 5 a and within each basin to formrespective drape receptacles therein as described above. A sterilemedium or liquid is placed within each drape receptacle for cooling orheating. Each basin may be manually controlled via associated powerswitches 35, 47 and temperature controls 15, 38 and/or controls 95, butis preferably controlled by manipulation of a corresponding foot switch73 a, 73 b. The user actuates appropriate transducers of a foot switchto control an associated basin as described above. For example, a usermay actuate transducer 46 of foot switch to 73 a (FIG. 4) to initiatepower to basin 11, and further actuate transducers 41, 44 to set adesired temperature for that basin as described above. Manipulation oftransducers 41, 44 and 46 of footswitch 73 b (FIG. 8) provides similarcontrol over basin 43. Transducers 45 and 52 of foot switch 73 a mayalso be actuated to control a dislodgment mechanism of that basin asdescribed above. Each foot switch transfers signals to system 5 a whereprocessor 56 determines transducer actuation and controls appropriatesystem components to perform the commanded actions as described above.The liquid temperature within each basin and other information may beselectively displayed on corresponding foot switch displays 51 and/ordisplays 72 in accordance with manipulation of the display transducersand/or controls 95 as described above. System operation may becontrolled manually (e.g., via power switches 35, 47 and temperaturecontrols 15, 38 and/or controls 95) or via foot switches 73 a, 73 b,either individually or in any combination.

A remote controlled plural basin thermal treatment system operableduring a medical procedure by sterile or non-sterile personnel tothermally treat a sterile medium according to the present invention isillustrated in FIGS. 17-18. Specifically, thermal treatment system 5 bis substantially similar to system 5 a described above, but includesremote control unit 70 c and control circuitry 77 (FIG. 18). A steriledrape 17 d for use with system 5 b is substantially similar to drape 17b described above, but is of sufficient size to encompass basins 11 and43. The drape is placed over system 5 b and within basins 11, 43 to formdrape receptacles within the basins as described above. Displays 72 maybe disposed on the cabinet front wall beneath an associated basin 11,43, while controls 95 may be disposed beneath each of the respectivedisplays to facilitate selective display of and/or enter desiredinformation. The displays each have dimensions sufficient to enabledisplayed information to be perceived through drape 17 d by userslocated within extended ranges (e.g., distances extending to ten or morefeet) from the system. Substantially rectangular window 76 is definedwithin a substantially central section of the cabinet front wall towardthe front wall upper edge, and typically includes a substantiallytransparent covering constructed of materials that permit signalsemitted from remote control unit 70 c to pass therethrough. Controlcircuitry 77 is disposed coincident window 76 to receive the transmittedsignals and control system operation in accordance with commandsembedded within the signals as described below.

Remote control unit 70 c emits command signals to system 5 b to controlsystem operation and is substantially similar to remote control units 7a, 70 b described above, except that remote control unit 70 c stores andtransmits operation codes corresponding to both cooling and warmingbasins. The operation codes typically include information to identifythe basin associated with the function. Control circuitry 77 issubstantially similar to circuitry 74, 75 described above and isembedded within assembly 50 to control system operation in accordancewith commands received from remote control unit 70 c as illustrated inFIG. 18. Specifically, control circuitry 77 includes receiver 92,decoder 94 and processor 96, each as described above. Receiver 92receives signals emitted from remote control unit 70 c through window 76(FIG. 17) and conveys the encoded signals to decoder 94 as describedabove. The decoder decodes the received signals and forwards the decodedsignals to processor 96 for processing as described above. Processor 96determines the command and corresponding basin based on the transmittedoperation code to control system operation. A user typically enters intothe remote control unit an identifier along with a command to indicatethe basin being remotely controlled. The remote control unit processorreceives the identifier and retrieves the appropriate operation code forthe function containing basin information. System processor 96 receivesthe transmitted code and utilizes the basin information within the codeto control the appropriate basin.

Processor 96 is typically coupled to power switches 35, 47 andtemperature controls 15, 38, but may be further coupled to dislodgmentmechanism 36, displays 72 and controls 95 (e.g., when these optionaldevices are employed by the system). The system components arecontrolled by the processor to perform various functions in accordancewith the transmitted operation codes as described above. Further,processor 96 may be coupled to temperature sensors 64, 81 (FIGS. 2 and10) and receive signals from these sensors indicating the measuredtemperature of liquid within basins 11, 43. The processor processes thesignals to display the measured temperatures on displays 72 and/or 80.Further, the temperature measured by temperature sensors 64, 81 may beprovided to processor 96 for display along with various types of otherinformation (e.g., date, time, desired temperature, etc.) in accordancewith display commands entered by the user via keypad 78 or controls 95.

In addition, control circuitry 77 may include transmitter 98 to provideinformation to remote control unit 70 c for display to a user on display80 as described above. The transmitter provides encoded signalsconveying various information (e.g., actual and desired temperatures ofthe basins, basin status, etc.) to the remote control unit for selectivedisplay on display 80 (FIG. 7) in accordance with display commandsentered via keypad 78. It is to be understood that the remote controlunit and control circuitry may be configured to control any desiredoperational parameters or settings. Further, processor 96 may controlsystem operation in a similar manner to that described above fortemperature controls 15, 38 and/or remote control unit 70 c in responseto commands and/or system parameters entered for the basins viacorresponding controls 95.

Operation of the remote controlled thermal treatment system is describedwith reference to FIGS. 17-18. Specifically, sterile drape 17 d isplaced over system 5 b and within each basin to form drape receptaclestherein as described above. A sterile medium or liquid is placed withineach drape receptacle for cooling or heating. Each basin may be manuallycontrolled via associated power switches 35, 47 and temperature controls15, 38 and/or controls 95, but is preferably controlled by operation ofremote control unit 70 c. The user depresses appropriate devices onkeypad 78 to control system operation as described above. The remotecontrol unit processes the keypad entries and retrieves the appropriateoperation codes (e.g., including a basin identifier as described aboveto designate the basin being controlled) from memory for transmission tosystem 5 b in the form of encoded signals as described above. Controlcircuitry 77 within the system receives and decodes the transmittedsignals, and controls the appropriate system components to perform theactions indicated by the operation codes. The liquid temperature andother information pertaining to the basins or system is selectivelydisplayed on display 80 and/or respective displays 72 in accordance withdisplay commands entered via keypad 78 or controls 95. System operationmay be controlled manually (e.g., via power switches 35, 47 andtemperature controls 15, 38 and/or controls 95) or via the remotecontrol unit, either individually or in any desired combination.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments described above andillustrated in the drawings represent only a few of the many ways ofimplementing a remote controlled thermal treatment system and method forcontrolling the system remotely to thermally treat sterile surgicalliquid.

The slush, warming and plural basin systems and their correspondingassembly or housings may be of any shape or size and may be constructedof any suitable materials. The plural basin system may include anyquantity of heating and/or cooling basins in any combinations. Thebasins may be of any shape or size, and may be constructed of anysuitable thermal conducting materials (e.g., stainless steel). Thesystems may include any conventional or other heating and/orrefrigeration units to thermally treat the sterile medium or othersubstance to any desired temperature. The heating unit may include anyconventional or other heating device and components to control heatingof the basin to any desired temperature (e.g., preferably totemperatures near or above normal body temperature, such as temperaturesin the approximate range of 95° F.-110° F. ). The cooling unit mayinclude any conventional or other cooling or refrigeration device andcomponents to control cooling of the basin to any desired temperature(e.g., preferably to temperatures near or below the freezing temperatureof the sterile liquid or medium, such as temperatures in the approximaterange of −32° F. to 32° F. ). The temperature sensors maybe implementedby any conventional or other temperature sensing device (e.g., infrared,RTD, etc.). The basins may be disposed in any arrangement or at anysuitable locations on the systems. The systems may thermally treat (e.g.heat or cool) any type of medium or liquid, while the cooling basins mayinclude any type of conventional or other dislodgement mechanism, suchas those described above or in the aforementioned patents. The systemsmay include both the foot switches and remote control units, and may beoperable manually (e.g., via the power switches and controls), via thefoot switches or via the remote control units, either individually or inany desired combination. The foot switches and/or remote control unitsmay be employed by any of the thermal treatment or slush systemsdescribed above or disclosed in the aforementioned patents insubstantially the same manner described above. The systems may includeany quantity or type (e.g., LED, LCD, etc.) of display of any shape orsize to be perceived from any desired distances. The display may bedisposed at any suitable locations, and may indicate any information,such as that relating to any system or medium characteristics orparameters (e.g., desired or actual medium temperature, operatinginterval, time, date, dislodgement mechanism rate, etc.). The controls(e.g., controls 95) may be of any quantity, shape or size, and may beimplemented by any type of input device (e.g., keys, buttons, bars,joystick, ball, touch screen display, voice recognition, etc.). Thecontrols may be disposed on the systems at any suitable locations, andfacilitate entry and/or display of any type of information.

The drapes employed with the cooling, heating and plural basin systemsmay be of any size or shape, and may be constructed of any suitablematerials. The drapes employed with the foot switch and remote controlunit are preferably transparent or translucent to facilitatemanipulation of controls through the drape, however, these drapes mayhave any degree of transparency (e.g., including opaque). The drapesemployed with the remote control units may be constructed of anysuitable materials enabling remote control unit signals to passtherethrough.

The foot actuated switches and housings may be of any shape or size, andmay be constructed of any suitable materials. The foot switches may bemanipulated by any portion of a user body. The foot switches may includeany quantity of any type of input device to control system operation.The transducers may be arranged in any fashion and may be implemented byany type of conventional or other pressure sensing device (e.g.,pressure sensitive resistors, electromechanical devices, etc.) andassociated circuitry. The foot switches may include any quantity of anytype of indicia to indicate specific functions. Further, the transducersmay include any quantity or type of covering of any shape or size havingany suitable indicia thereon describing the transducer function. Thecoverings may be constructed of any suitable materials. The footswitches may include any quantity or type (e.g., LED, LCD, etc.) ofdisplay of any shape or size disposed at any suitable locations. Thedisplay may include a protective covering of any shape or size andconstructed of any suitable materials enabling viewing of the displaytherethrough. The display may indicate information relating to anysystem or medium characteristics or parameters (e.g., desired or actualmedium temperature, operating interval, time, date, dislodgementmechanism rate, etc.). The foot switches may include transducers orother devices to control any operating parameter or system functions.

The plural basin system may alternatively include a single foot switchto control plural system basins, while the foot switches may employwireless technology utilizing any type of energy (e.g., infrared, RF,visible light, ultrasound, etc.) to facilitate communication of controland other information with the system. The systems may employ anyquantity of foot switches to control one or more basins. The systemprocessors receiving data from the foot switches may be implemented byany conventional or other processor or circuitry. The transduceractuation thresholds may be set to any desired values to indicateactuation from any amount of applied pressure. The foot switches mayinterface the processors in any desired fashion to facilitateidentification of transducers producing received signals (e.g., memorymapping, interrupts, specific line, transducer signals includingidentification information, etc.). The foot switch cables may beimplemented by any type of conventional or other cable suitable fortransferring information between the foot switches and systems. Thecables and systems may include connectors to enable the foot switches tobe compatible with and utilized by different systems. The foot switchesmay be detached from the housing and in communication with the systemvia wire or wireless technology, or may alternatively be attached to ormounted on the system housing to control system operation insubstantially the same manner described above.

The remote control units and their housings may be of any shape or sizeand may be constructed of any suitable materials. The unit components(e.g., processor, transmitter, decoder, receiver/decoder, keypad,memory) may be implemented by any conventional or other components orcircuitry capable of performing their functions. The keypad may includeany quantity or types of input devices (e.g., keys, buttons, bars,wheels, touch screen, joystick, ball, etc.), and may include anyalphanumeric or specialty keys. The units may include any quantity ortype (e.g., LED, LCD, etc.) of display of any shape or size disposed atany suitable locations. The display may indicate information relating toany system or medium characteristics or parameters (e.g., desired oractual medium temperature, operating interval, time, date, dislodgementmechanism rate, etc.). The units may be configured to control anyoperating parameter or system functions. The units may control anyquantity of basins, and may include any quantity or type of softwareand/or operation codes to control system parameters and operation. Thecodes may include any length or format, may utilize any type ofalphanumeric or other characters or bit streams, and may contain anytype of information (e.g., operation, parameter, basin identifier,machine identifier, etc.). Further, the units may be configured to beuniversal and for use with different machines. The units may encodesignals in any desired format (e.g., including uncoded signals), and maytransmit in the form of any type of wave or signal utilizing any type ofenergy (e.g., infrared, RF, visible light, ultrasound, etc.). The unitsmay alternatively utilize a cable for communication with the systems.

The systems employing the remote control units may include controlcircuitry having components (e.g., receiver, decoder, transmitter,processor) implemented by any conventional or other components orcircuitry performing those functions. The receiver and decoder may beimplemented by any devices compatible with the unit transmitter, whilethe unit receiver/decoder may be implemented by any device compatiblewith the system transmitter. The transmitters may transmit any type ofwave or signal utilizing any desired energy (e.g., infrared, RF, visiblelight, ultrasound, etc.) at any desired frequency. The remote units maybe sterilized or encased in a sterile liner prior to each use in asterile environment. The liner may be of any shape or size, and may beconstructed of any suitable materials enabling signals from the remotecontrol units to pass therethrough. The plural basin system may employany quantity of remote control units to control basins individually(e.g., one unit for each basin). The system windows may be of anyquantity, shape or size, and may include coverings of any shape or sizeand constructed of any suitable materials enabling signals from theremote control units to pass therethrough. Alternatively, the windowsmay be implemented without the coverings. The remote control units aretypically portable and detached from the system housing, but may beremovably attached to the housing (e.g., via a holder, bracket, etc.),and may control system operation from any desired distances.

The system and remote control unit processors may include softwaredeveloped in any suitable computer language to perform the describedfunctions. It is to be understood that one of ordinary skill in thecomputer arts could develop the software for the processors based on thefunctional descriptions contained herein. Further, the processors may beimplemented by any hardware or circuitry to perform the describedfunctions. The control circuitry of the systems may be implemented byany conventional or other devices or components arranged in any fashionto process the signals from the foot switches and remote control unitsand control system operation.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the inventionmakes available a novel remote controlled thermal treatment system andmethod for controlling the system remotely to thermally treat sterilesurgical liquid wherein a thermal treatment system is controlled via afoot actuated switch or remote control unit to thermally treat a sterilesurgical liquid contained therein to desired temperatures.

Having described preferred embodiments of new and improved remotecontrolled thermal treatment system and method for controlling thesystem remotely to thermally treat sterile surgical liquid, it isbelieved that other modifications, variations and changes will besuggested to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings. setforth herein. It is therefore to be understood that all such variations,modifications and changes are believed to fall within the scope of thepresent invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. A thermal treatment system for thermally treating a sterile medium ina sterile surgery environment, said system comprising: a system housingincluding a top surface; a basin disposed on said top surface forcontaining said sterile medium; a thermal treatment unit to thermallytreat said sterile medium disposed in said basin; and a controllerselectively manipulable by a user to control system operation, whereinsaid controller is disposed on an external sidewall of said systemhousing and controls operation of said thermal treatment unit tothermally treat said sterile medium in accordance with saidmanipulation.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein said controller isselectively manipulable through a surgical drape that covers andsubstantially conforms to said basin and at least a portion of saidexternal sidewall including said controller.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein said controller includes an input device to facilitate entry ofa desired temperature into said controller to control thermal treatmentof said sterile medium disposed within said basin to the desiredtemperature.
 4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a temperatureindicator disposed on said system housing to selectively indicatetemperature information including at least one of a measured temperatureand a desired temperature for said sterile medium disposed in saidbasin.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein said temperature indicatorincludes a digital display to display said temperature information. 6.The system of claim 5, wherein said digital display is disposed on saidexternal sidewall of said system proximate said controller and displaystemperature information in a manner sufficient to be perceived through asurgical drape that covers and substantially conforms to said basin andat least a portion of said external sidewall including said digitaldisplay.
 7. A thermal treatment system for thermally treating a sterilemedium in a sterile surgery environment, said system comprising: asystem housing including a top surface; a basin disposed on said topsurface for containing said sterile medium; a thermal treatment unit tothermally treat said sterile medium disposed in said basin; a controllerdisposed on said system housing and selectively manipulable by a user tocontrol system operation, wherein said controller controls operation ofsaid thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said sterile medium inaccordance with said manipulation; and a temperature display disposed onsaid system housing to display temperature information including atleast one of a measured temperature and a desired temperature for saidsterile medium disposed in said basin.
 8. The system of claim 7, whereinsaid temperature display digitally displays said temperatureinformation.
 9. The system of claim 7, wherein said temperature displayis disposed on an external wall of said system housing and displaystemperature information in a manner sufficient to be perceived through asurgical drape that covers and substantially conforms to said basin andat least a portion of said external wall including said temperaturedisplay.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein said controller includes aninput device to facilitate entry of the desired temperature into saidcontroller to control thermal treatment of said sterile medium disposedwithin said basin to the desired temperature.
 11. In a thermal treatmentsystem for thermally treating a sterile medium including a systemhousing including a top surface, a basin disposed on said top sufface tocontain said sterile medium and a thermal treatment unit to thermallytreat said sterile medium disposed in said basin, a method ofcontrolling said system to thermally treat said sterile mediumcomprising the step of: (a) controlling said thermal treatment unit tothermally treat said sterile medium in accordance with user manipulationof a controller disposed on an external sidewall of said system housing.12. The method of claim 11, wherein step (a) further includes: (a.1)controlling said thermal treatment unit to thermally treat said sterilemedium in accordance with user manipulation of said controller through asurgical drape that covers and substantially conforms to said basin andat least a portion of said external sidewall including said controller.13. The method of claim 11, wherein step (a) further includes: (a.1)controlling thermal treatment of said sterile medium disposed withinsaid basin to a desired temperature in accordance with user entry of thedesired temperature into said controller via an input device.
 14. Themethod of claim 11, wherein said system further includes a temperatureindicator disposed on said system housing, and the method furthercomprises: (b) selectively indicating temperature information via saidtemperature indicator, wherein said temperature information includes atleast one of a measured temperature and a desired temperature for saidsterile medium disposed in said basin.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein said temperature indicator includes a digital display, and step(b) further includes: (b.1) digitally displaying said temperatureinformation via said digital display.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein said digital display is disposed on said external sidewall ofsaid system housing proximate said controller and step (b.1) furtherincludes: (b.1.1) displaying temperature information in a mannersufficient to be perceived through a surgical drape that covers andsubstantially conforms to said basin and at least a portion of saidexternal sidewall including said digital display.
 17. In a thermaltreatment system for thermally treating a sterile medium including asystem housing including a top surface, a basin disposed on said topsurface to contain said sterile medium and a thermal treatment unit tothermally treat said sterile medium disposed in said basin, a method ofcontrolling said system to thermally treat said sterile mediumcomprising the steps of: (a) controlling said thermal treatment unit tothermally treat said sterile medium in accordance with user manipulationof a controller disposed on said system housing; and (b) displayingtemperature information via a temperature display disposed on anexternal wall of said system housing, wherein said temperatureinformation includes at least one of a measured temperature and adesired temperature for said sterile medium disposed in said basin. 18.The method of claim 17, wherein step (b) further includes: (b.1)digitally displaying said temperature information via said temperaturedisplay.
 19. The method of claim 17, wherein step (b) further includes:(b.1) displaying temperature information in a manner sufficient to beperceived through a surgical drape that covers and substantiallyconforms to said basin and at least a portion of said external wallincluding said temperature display.
 20. The method of claim 17, whereinstep (a) further includes: (a.1) controlling thermal treatment of saidsterile medium disposed within said basin to a desired temperature inaccordance with user entry of the desired temperature into saidcontroller via an input device.